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Hyperinflation and discharge affected the cashier office in 2018

adminJanuary 11, 2019

January 11, 2019 1:15

The performance of the box office at the Venezuelan cinema last year was marked by the empty rooms and by important films that did not come to billboard, like the winner of four Oscar water shape and Bohemian Rhapsody, which has just been recognized by two Golden Globes.

Hyperinflation, insecurity, migration and lack of supply significantly affected one of the most popular leisure activities of Venezuelans, despite the fact that the theaters have adapted prices and plans to stimulate spectator attendance.

An entry today can cost more than 2,000 bolivars and a combination of cotufas more than 3,000, but these rates may continue to vary depending on the rate of hyperinflation. For a Venezuelan living with a minimum wage (4,500 Bolivars), that would mean investing virtually everything he earns from a month's wager.

"It was a dramatic decline in the cash register office of more than 30%. Historically, I think it had not happened before. We were several years stable, with about 30 million viewers per year. Pisano, Director General of the film distributor Blancica.

The audience, in an attempt not to miss the prizes, usually goes like a family to watch the big movies. This is the case Avengers: Infinity War, which was the movie that gathered the greatest attendance with 1,396,244 spectators. "People are still working on this kind of production," adds Pisano, who is also a programmer at the movie halls at Trasnocho Cultural Center in Las Mercedes. "The most affected films are usually the small productions," he adds.

In Cultural Trasnocho, where an entrance costs 600 Bolivars, alternatives are offered. Last year, films from the Spanish Film Festival of XXII and the second edition of the Argentine film festival were shown there. In addition, there are offers both Blockbuster as of several independent films. "It is an alternative cinema that survives because it is more segmented. It is a very small niche, but somehow it is an audience that is alike in that room because classics are shown or there are cinephors and other complementary activities. which is part of their value creation, even though the public going to Trasnocho has also changed, because many have left the country. "

Migration has damaged the industry. Many of those who leave are young people who used to be employed in the hall. But the search for a better quality of life has increased the company's turnover. "Some boys are currently in the rooms because they have already planned where to go," he says. And he says, "We are in a period of resistance and trying to make the industry survive as best it can. Exhibitors are trying to keep the rooms open."